Paint brush holder



Nov. 10, 1964 W. G. WOLCOTT PAINT BRUSH HOLDER Filed June 10, 1963 INVENTOR.

WILLIAM G. WULGDTT AT TURNEX United States Patent 3,156,364 PAINT BRUSH HOLDER Wiiliam G. Wolcott, 25 Bramble Lane, Riverside, Conn. Filed June 10, 1963, Ser. No. 286,825 6 Claims. (Cl. 211-65) The present invention relates to a paint brush holder, and has for its object to provide a holder of this type for use in association with a container of liquid solvent in which one or more brushes of varying sizes may be suspended by means of the holder, and a cover for enclosing the suspended brushes and sealing them in a substantially air-tight state, it being proposed according to the invention to provide means upon the holder for sealing engagement with the container and cover. In carrying out the invention the solvent container may be a standard sized paint can or bucket and the cover may be an identical paint can or bucket disposed in inverted relation.

A further object is to provide a paint brush holder which may be conveniently and inexpensively molded from plastic material, for example polyethylene, which has relative stiffness and a degree of resilient flexibility. Another object is to provide a holder having a plurality of various sized circumferentially and radially arranged recess openings for receiving the handles of various sized brushes, and which through the resilient flexibility of the plastic material will yield into conforming relation with selected cross-sectional areas of such brush handles, whereby the suspended brushes may be effectually retained at any desired position of vertical adjustment, to thus enable both long and short brushes to be simultaneously suspended with the bristles at a suitable level in the sol vent to insure complete immersion.

The standard paint brush has a handle which bulges outwardly from a narrow neck portion, the latter being of oval cross-section with the major dimension parallel to the wide dimension of the brush head. A further object of the invention is to provide a holder which will receive such standard brush in such position that it will yieldably grip the narrow sides of the handle and at the same time will engage one of the wide sides to thus restrain turning movement in the holder and prevent if from coming into contact with the walls of the container or other brushes suspended therein.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a holder in which the brushes may be suspended within a circular solvent container in circumferentially arranged rows enabling a large number of brushes to be accommodated within a relatively compact space.

Other objects and advantages will beconie apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein a satisfactory embodiment of the invention is shown. However, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details disclosed but includes all such variations and modifications as fall within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan View of a brush holder according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the holder in place upon a solvent container with brushes suspended therein, the cover being removed; and

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view, taken along the line 55 of FIG. 4, and with the cover in place.

Referring to the drawings, the brush holder 10, according to the exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated therein, is of one-piece construction and is preferably molded from suitable plastic material, for exam- 3,156,364 Patented Nov. 10, 1964 ple polyethylene, having the characteristic of being relatively stiff with a degree of resilient flexibility. The holder comprises a circular wall 11 having a rim flange 12 projecting laterally therefrom centrally between its upper and lower surfaces, the outer surface of the wall 11 being tapered upwardly and downwardly from the rim flange, as at 13 and 14, for the purpose of wedging in sealed relation within the open ends of a container 15 and a cover 16 with the flange 12 disposed between the rims 17 and 18 of the respective container and cover. The container has a suitable solvent 19, for example turpentine, contained therein and the cover 16 is disposed in inverted relation. In the drawings the container and cover are shown as plastic buckets such as are commonly sold in paint stores for use by painters, the rims 17 and 18 of the respective buckets each being in the form of a reinforcing integral bead. The container and cover may also be in the form of standard paint cans, for example one-gallon size cans.

integrally connected with the inner surface of the wall 11 are a plurality of equally spaced radially extending resiliently flexible walls 20 having their inner free ends terminating along a circumferential line intermediate the wall 11 and the central axis of the holder, thus providing a central free space 21 within the holder of a diameter approximately equal to the width of the largest sized brush adapted to be suspended by the holder, for example a standard 4" brush. A plurality of radially spaced circumferentially arranged segmental walls 22 are integrally connected with the radial walls 20 to provide a grilllike structure wherein the radial walls are laterally supported by strut portions of the circumferential walls extending between them. These circumferential walls are of varying lengths to provide brush handle receiving recesses of varying depths opening to the central free space 21.

In the holder illustrated in the drawing, twenty-four radial walls are provided and the circumferential Walls 22 are arranged in three concentric circumferential lines, the outer segmental walls extending between the radial walls disposed at each side of a diametric line of the holder, the intermediate segmental walls extending between the aforementioned radial walls and the radial walls disposed at each side of a diametric line at right angles to the aforementioned diametric line, and the innermost segmental Walls extending between pairs of the radial walls and being outwardly spaced from the inner free ends of the radial walls. With this arrangement, which may of course be varied as desired, recesses of four different depths are provided, there being two recesses 23 of maximum depth, two recesses 24 of next smaller depth, eight recesses 25 of next smaller depth, and twelve recesses 26 of minimum depth. It has been found in practice that, with a holder of approximately 8 /2 inches outside diameter, this arrangement permits of the suspension of a maximum number of various sized brushes with the larger brushes engaged in the deeper recesses and the smaller brushes engaged in the shallower recesses.

The circumferential spacing of the radial walls 20 is such that the inwardly convergent spaces defined by these walls are of a width at their outer ends approximately equal to the cross-sectional width of a large sized brush handle, and of a width at their inner ends approximately equal to the width of a small sized brush handle. The brush handles may be engaged in the recesses either with a loose fit with the bulging shape of the handle determining the suspension level, or they may be tightly wedged between resiliently flexible radial walls which yield outwardly under tension in conforming relation to the brush handle. This is clearly illustrated in FIG. 4 by the brush handle 27 shown in cross-section, the radial walls being pressed outwardly between the spaced segmental walls and thus securely retaining the brush at the desired position of vertical adjustment, while at the same time holding it against turning movement. Turning movement of the brushes may also be prevented by engaging the fiat side of the handle against the segmental wall forming the base of the recess in which the handle is engaged, as shown for example by the right hand brush in FIG. 4.

What is claimed is:

1. A paint brush holder for disposition between a solvent container and a cover and comprising a peripheral wall, and a grid structure integral with said peripheral wall including a plurality of walls extending inwardly from said peripheral wall and terminating in spaced relation to the center point of said holder to provide a free space centrally of said holder, and a plurality of strut walls each extending between certain pairs of said firstmentioned plurality of walls, certain of said strut walls being at varying distances from said peripheral wall and defining a plurality of brush handle receiving recesses of varying depths opening to said central free space.

2. A paint brush holder for disposition between a solvent container and a cover and comprising a peripheral wall, a laterally extending rim flange substantially centrally between the upper and lower sides of said peripheral wall, the outer surfaces of said peripheral wall being tapered inwardly from the upper and lower sides of said flange, and a grid structure integral with said peripheral wall including a plurality of walls extending inwardly from said peripheral wall and terminating in spaced relation to the center point of said holder to provide a free space centrally of said holder, and a plurality of strut walls each extending between certain pairs of said first-mentioned walls, certain of said strut walls being at varying distances inwardly from said peripheral wall and defining a plurality of brush handle receiving recesses of varying depths opening to said central free space.

3. A paint brush holder for disposition between a solvent container and a cover and comprising a circular peripheral wall, and a grid-like structure integral with said peripheral wall including a plurality of circumferentially spaced radial Walls extending inwardly from said peripheral wall and terminating in spaced relation to the center point of said holder to provide a free space centrally of said holder, and a plurality of circumferentially arranged radially spaced strut walls each extending between certain pairs of said radial walls, certain of said strut walls being at varying distances from said peripheral wall and defining a plurality of brush handle receiving recesses of varying depths opening to said central free space.

4. A paint brush holder for disposition between a solvent container and a cover and comprising a circular peripheral wall, a laterally extending rim flange substantially centrally between the upper and lower sides of said peripheral wall, the outer surfaces of said peripheral wall being tapered inwardly from the upper and lower sides of said flange, and a grid-like structure integral with said peripheral wall including a plurality of circumferentially spaced radial walls extending inwardly from said peripheral wall and terminating in spaced relation to the center point of said holder to provide a free space centrally of said holder, and a plurality of circumferentially arranged radially spaced strut walls each extending between certain pairs of said radial walls, certain of said strut walls being at varying distances from said peripheral wall and defining a plurality of brush handle receiving recesses of varying depths opening to said central free space.

5. The invention as defined in claim 1, further characterized in that said holder is formed of relatively stifi plastic material having a degree of resilient flexibility.

6. The invention as defined in claim 3, further characterized in that said holder is formed of relatively stiff plastic material having a degree of resilient flexibility.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 126,219 Lemoine Apr. 30, 1872 286,405 Edwards Oct. 9, 1893 2,533,355 Comfort Dec. 12, 1950 2,562,496 Kirsch July 31, 1951 

1. A PAINT BRUSH HOLDER FOR DISPOSITION BETWEEN A SOLVENT CONTAINER AND A COVER AND COMPRISING A PERIPHERAL WALL, AND A GRID STRUCTURE INTEGRAL WITH SAID PERIPHERAL WALL INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF WALLS EXTENDING INWARDLY FROM SAID PERIPHERAL WALL AND TERMINATING IN SPACED RELATION TO THE CENTER POINT OF SAID HOLDER TO PROVIDE A FREE SPACE CENTRALLY OF SAID HOLDER, AND A PLURALITY OF STRUT WALLS EACH EXTENDING BETWEEN CERTAIN PAIRS OF SAID FIRSTMENTIONED PLURALITY OF WALLS, CERTAIN OF SAID STRUT WALLS BEING AT VARYING DISTANCES FROM SAID PERIPHERAL WALL AND DEFINING A PLURALITY OF BRUSH HANDLE RECEIVING RECESSES OF VARYING DEPTHS OPENING TO SAID CENTRAL FREE SPACE. 